(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / DJD press release) After 15 years of silence, Don Juan Dracula made a long-awaited comeback in February with the single ‘Burn’ and the excellent Sniffergod rework of the song. Now they’re following up with ‘Be The Same’, a synthpop track about self-destruction, change, and the need to start over.

The band, known for their energetic and theatrical mix of synthpop, rock, and indie, was once one of Norway’s most unique live acts. After many years in hibernation, they’re back, now with a new drummer and a renewed drive.

‘Be The Same’ was produced, mixed, and recorded by the band themselves, and marks the next chapter in a series of new releases throughout the year.

After firing of an e-mail to pick Henrik Lysell’s brain about about DJD’s second single and video I got this in return:

S-L: Tell us more about the song – one could almost speculate there’s a parallel to your own comeback here, as a comeback could include a lot of changes? “For us, for you, for me”?

Henrik Lysell: Haha, we see what you’re doing there – and fair enough, but truth is, the song isn’t really about our comeback. As always, it’s the personal stuff that fuels the fire – love, loss, obsession. We’ll leave space for interpretation, but it’s hard to hide that it’s about someone – a girl – who’s spiraled out. And at some point, she’s gotta start making the right choices. It’s not autobiographical, but there’s definitely a pulse of redemption in there.

S-L: … and the video – WOW – you really stepped up a notch or two! How many % AI this time?

HL: Appreciate that – thank you! Honestly, we’ve kind of become addicted to the possibilities of AI. Being able to create a whole visual universe where your imagination sets the rules? That’s insanely liberating. The tech is wild, but we’re still the ones steering the ship – mood, color, vibe, story. So maybe… 70% AI, 30% raw human obsession?

S-L: Any more releases before the concert?

HL: We might not make it in time for another drop before the show, but we’ve got 2-3 tracks that are nearly locked and loaded. We’re aiming to have a full album out before the year’s up. There’s just this creative flood going on right now – and it feels damn good to be riding it again!

Don Juan Dracula has been resurrected. Nothing will be the same.

On May 23, they’ll take the stage at Goldie, performing their first Oslo concert in 17 years.

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Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

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